Preface: I'm horrible with grammar. I also don't mind that I'm horrible with grammar. I'm not really a journalist, I just play one on the internet. I didn't mean for it to happen, it just kind of happened. Thanks for that. This blog has no format.

What took place in North Dakota from spring of 2016 until early 2017 was a wake up call for both indigenous communities, and white America all the same. After centuries of being hidden behind a vale of tailor made history, created to further dissolve the culture of the American Indian, the Lakota people not only reminded the world that Indigenous culture still exists in the United States, but still standing resilient in their sovereignty despite the whitewashing of "modern history". Thousands of stories will be told of what took place at Standing Rock over the years to come, but a few will hope to be forgotten by law enforcement, and the state government.

Like the one where they became pawns and fascists.

Imagine being on a frontline and seeing one police officer ashamed, and another with a bulge in his crotch. This kind of sums up the feel of the frontlines, honestly.

Over the course of 10 months, what started off as an indigenous movement to protect sacred lands, water, and indigenous rights became an undeniable movement about the American Indian, a world community standing together, and MNI WICONI, a cry heard around the globe. But as Water Protectors around the world rallied to protect the Missouri River, state officials, law enforcement, and Energy Transfer Partners, an oil company determined to put a pipeline in the ground had other plans. Behind the curtain of a business "creating jobs", was a form of fascism rarely exposed in such a manner before. Corporations paying law enforcements wages to suppress peaceful and prayerful protest, private security firms made up of former special forces units, and a company openly willing to lie to the American people to paint the protectors out to be violent & dangerous, even going so far as to compare American citizens to jihadists.

Yup, so we literally had TigerSwan, a mercenary group formed out of the defunct ashes of Blackwater, a special forces group guilty of murdering 17 innocent people in an Iraqi square in 2007 compare US to jihadists. I don't think these guys realize how reality works.

Law enforcement putting his knee on the head of a 19 yr old female Water Protector while arresting her. This is a civil rights violation. *cough cough*

After spending 6 months on the ground at Standing Rock, one really walks away from the movement with the question of what it actually means to "Protect & Serve". We all like to imagine the phrase came from some honorable moment when law enforcement found their purpose. False. In February 1955, the Los Angeles Police Department held a contest for a motto. It wasn't an epiphany, it just happened to be the best slogan slung their direction that day. This raises the question of if "protect & serve" is a real thing. After seeing what took place in North Dakota, the answer is yes. The real question is WHO does law enforcement protect, and who exactly do they serve? Judging from the $15,000,000 "donation" by Energy Transfer Partners to reimburse their expenses during the Standing Rock movement, its clear. Law Enforcement was willing to protect money, and corporate interests. Law enforcement was not there to uphold the rights, and protect the freedoms of American citizens, first nations, or anyone upset at the pipeline. Not only were North Dakota law enforcement and those from multiple other states not willing to protect civil and human rights. They were willing to violate them. This was not an isolated incident. There wasn't one specific incident where oppression took place. Watching over 50 departments from an array of different cities, counties, and states come together to suppress voices proved what took place is the beginning of an epidemic. The "American Dream" which has been an American nightmare for indigenous communities for centuries, is now starting to publicly show its face across all society. Not only is it public, but the state, and the company they protect openly give each other "good job" slaps on the butt in the media, so the world can watch. A corporation officially paid for law enforcement to oppress people, and made sure the world was able to get a front row seat to the death of the peaceful protest, and the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness.

The American dream just wet the bed. The American constitution now reeks of urine.

The state of North Dakota was hesitant at first to accept payment from ETP. Questioning the legality of being able to accept money for services rendered, the state long held themselves back from the carrot dangling in their face. In fact, the money had been offered months before it was accepted. Never taken off the table, North Dakota finally reached for that carrot in September of 2017. It was eventually accepted as a donation to the Department of Emergency Services. Was it legal? Was any of the shit these groups did legal? Is Energy Transfer Partners now co-liable for the violations of the state? Lets go through a list of violations that took place between the 2 groups...